Ask HN: How many email subs must you get to make writing a blog post worth it?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8565224

by boldpanda • 12 years ago

1 3 12 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

I've got a startup that solves the content dilemma: http://www.listhike.com

You spend hours writing and formatting a blog post but have no guarantee that'll generate traffic, email subscribers, & sales.

I created something that smartly promotes your post for you (without spamming) and guarantees you atleast 100 email subscribers per post.

Is 100 email subscribers enough for a blog post to be worth your time?

raminassemi• 12 years ago

Could you explain a bit more how this works?

I think the most important factor would be quality of the subscribers / how good a fit they are for what we're offering.

Also, I noticed this seems to be just about the "first 100"?

Or can this also be used when you already have a larger list?

boldpanda• 12 years ago

Yes, can be used when you have a larger list.

Quality will be better than average because it will be only topic interested subscribers.

ASquare• 12 years ago

tl;dr:

# of current subscribers is irrelevant. Build authority.

---------------------------------------------------------

It's not about today - it's about building up your authority over time.

It's a near guarantee that you will be blogging (literally/metaphorically) just for yourself for ~ 6 months - and that's ok - you have to keep that big picture in mind.

So even if you have 1 person that signed - that's one person besides you that gives a crap about what you do. That alone puts you above most people.

Do whatever it takes to keep them engaged - from blog posts to skype conversations to whatever the hell it takes to build your community for when you really need it.

You will likely learn some lessons for when your audience s realy big - which is helpful for when you do have more attention and can't afford to be making those kinds of mistakes.

Ask HN: How many email subs must you get to make writing a blog post worth it?

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